Irongate features hills, lot of Notre Dame fans

May 07, 2006|GENE STOWE Tribune Correspondent

Carriage Hills had grown up to the west, Swanson Highlands to the south, Farmington Square to the east and north. Some 60 heavily wooded acres -- popular with teenagers for secluded parties -- remained undeveloped. "It just sat there," recalls developer Bruce Huntington, who worked for the bank that acquired the property when a prominent mortgage company went out of business about 25 years ago. "In the early '80s, things were difficult for land development." But by 1987, workers were cutting trees north of Darden Road for homes in Irongate Estates, whose municipal water and sewer, location and carefully controlled development soon made it a hot spot for University of Notre Dame professors and administrators and others who built among the mature trees on the rolling land. "We ended up with a lot of young families that came out and built pretty big houses for pretty big families," says Huntington, who has since become a lawyer. "Once people would see what was going to happen there, it started to go. "We had pretty strict architectural controls. Every chimney in the subdivision is masonry. I had definite ideas of what I wanted. We weren't homebuilders. We were land developers." With a surveyor, they laid out some 120 lots, taking advantage of the rare rolling land and positioning the homes carefully to create a feel both private and communal. "That's a hilly area," Huntington says. "There's a lot of land forms you don't find in the cornfield subdivisions," although the developers had to stop some builders, not used to the terrain, from flattening the hills before they built. The area developed in seven sections, with increasing requirements for homeowners to build larger, more attractive homes. Prices ranged from about $189,000 to $525,000. Homes are closer to the road and to each other to create more of a sense of closeness, he says. "We intentionally pulled them closer, tried to create a sense of community." "It's a really quiet, peaceful, friendly neighborhood," says Doug Dunham, who grew up in South Bend but spent 15 years in downtown Chicago before he moved back with his wife, Donna, and young son, Michael, less than a year ago. "We were ready for a little more peace with a young child. He's thriving here. It's within walking distance to a public school," he said. "That was important to us. City water and city sewer were important. Convenience to shopping, downtown and transportation -- close, but not too close, to the Toll Road -- were factors, along with the aesthetic quality of Irongate Estates. "It does have a softer side to it," Doug says. "I come out at night to see the stars and come out early in the morning to hear the birds. The peace is wonderful." The Dunhams are among the newest residents, but the bumper crop of For Sale signs on the streets suggests turnover to come. "We're going to get some new neighbors with lots of houses changing hands," he says. "A lot of people have been here since they built," she says. "We're the new wave." They're the third owners of their home, built in 1989. "It had two previous owners, both of whom took very good care of it," he says. "I really appreciated the trees and how much of the forest they tried to keep," Donna says. "This area aesthetically was very pretty," although she wishes for one more amenity. "We miss the sidewalks. Biking, you're always on the street or walking, even with the stroller." Although Irongate Estates has never had a homeowners' association, "there seems to be a kind of community spirit," says Laura Worcester, who moved four years ago from Milwaukee. Certain residents -- Doug is one of them -- help foster it. Denise Slaughter, who moved five years ago from Trenton, N.J., enjoys the modern home, the nearby Swanson elementary school, the pond that has inspired her to write poetry, the careful layout of the homes -- "nobody's window looks into anybody else's window," she says -- and the neighborliness of the neighborhood. "We lived in an area that would probably be comparable to Colfax or Washington Street," says Denise, whose children are now 11 and 14. "I was hoping for a more modern home. "The other thing we were looking for was a good public school system. I was very pleased with Swanson as an elementary school. "There are minority families here. I really like the short streets ending in cul-de-sacs. I miss having sidewalks, but even without sidewalks they've got only 10 houses on the street. It makes it easy to get to know your neighbors, and the people are friendly." Know of a neighborhood worth writing about? Let Gene Stowe know at stowegene@yahoo.com.